Online Extras

Another woman who was arrested last week was Colleen R. LaRose, 46, of suburban Philadelphia, known on the Internet as "JihadJane."

Paulin-Ramirez was traveling with her son, Christian, 6, who has not been heard from since his mother's arrest on Tuesday. Connaughton would not confirm whether the boy was with Irish authorities while his mother was in jail.

Paulin-Ramirez's mother, Christine Holcomb, said Friday night that she had spoken with her daughter and her grandson Monday but hasn't been able to reach them since.

"I'm angry with her," Holcomb told The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the story online. "I'd just like to choke her, but I'm worried about her too."

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Holcomb's husband of 14 years, George Mott, was more direct Friday night.

"I'm so mad. All I want right now is to find our grandson."

The boy's father is a Mexican national who hasn't been heard from in five years.

Mott said that last year, Paulin-Ramirez began spending considerable time on the Internet in Muslim chat rooms, befriending JihadJane and other Muslim extremists — including Najibullah Zazi, the Aurora airport-shuttle driver who recently admitted his plot to bomb the New York City subway system. She also began wearing fundamentalist Muslim clothing, including a hijab, or head cloth covering everything except her eyes.

Christine Holcomb with her daughter Jamie Paulin-Ramirez and grandson Christian. at her home in Leadville, CO. (The Denver Post | CRAIG F. WALKER)

Paulin-Ramirez left Leadville in September and traveled to New York, where she married an Algerian. The couple, as well as her son, then traveled to Ireland, Mott said.

The family filed a missing-persons report with the Leadville Police Department, which launched a full-scale investigation.

"I always thought they had something there," said police Sgt. Saige Thomas. "Nobody took them seriously with a story like that. But we did."

Police found Paulin-Ramirez's car in the long-term parking lot at Denver International Airport, Thomas said.

Her mother told Leadville police that her daughter had changed the code on their joint bank account so she couldn't access it.

Finally, Paulin-Ramirez called the family from Ireland the week of Oct. 6. They stayed in relatively close contact until recently.

"JihadJane stayed with them in Ireland for two weeks," Mott said. "When JihadJane got arrested, she told the FBI and the Irish authorities about the Algerian, who gave up our daughter."

The FBI came to the Mott home in Leadville on Thursday, searched their home and confiscated Paulin-Ramirez's computer.

A few months before she disappeared, her stepfather told The Journal that he asked her: "What are you going to do, strap a bomb on and blow up something?" He recalled that she responded, "If necessary, yes."

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